Lighthearted Nation (1989)

This documentary is an insightful look into the Duplex Nursing Home in Massachusetts and the resident contributors to the Duplex Planet. Director Jim McKay interviews David Greenberger, the magazine's founder and member of the band Men & Volts. The real stars of this documentary-essay, however, are the residents of the Duplex Nursing Home, who offer interesting anecdotes and opinions on subjects ranging from their mothers, moon-walking and fortune tellers, to their attitudes about life. This work also includes a special tribute to Duplex resident-poet Ernest Noyes Brookings. As director, McKay does not attempt to mediate the experience or moralize on why the lives represented in this tape are significant or worthwhile, he simply lets them speak for themselves.